More User Reviews:

Smell  Big, serious yeast aromas immediately fill the nose. Theres some wonderful tropical fruit in there to include orange, peaches, melons, and even a dash of coconut juice.

Taste  This one delivers big time. The bready yeast is strong but balanced. The fruity flavors keep things even and the mild alcohol notes remind the drinker of the 9.5 ABV.

Mouthfeel  Lightly carbonated and medium to full in the body. This one is thick and chewy. Its dinner in a glass.

Drinkability  This was ideal. It went down like a true Abbey Tripel. It was exceptionally smooth, energetic, and right on style. Awesome!

Update  I revisited this in 2004 and was even more impressed with the way Victory put this one together. After attending the 2004 Belgian Beer Fest and sampling many American efforts at the style Ive come to reallly appreciate this offering from the V. I was particularly impressed with the Mouthfeel and am raising that score by 0.5. (1,033 characters)

I don't understand why the bros reviewed this so low. They need to have another.

If you pay really close attention to each sip, the qualities kind of disappear - you have to just drink it and not think too much. You'll realize how good it is. It's got such a nice light (golden?) taste and feel, but it's also rich and flavorful - some spice and floral - especially the afterglow. Sweet the main thing for me. Virtually no hop bitterness.

A - Gorgeous pour.

S - Not strong, but not distracting or bad. I give it a five not because it was a perfect smell, but because for me it's not part of the experience - it's mild/neutral and doesn't detract from the drinking of it.

T - See above.

M - I guess I do like a bit more carbonation, but that's not really the thing with this style right?

I'm not sure what they put in this, but it gave me hives. I've never had an allergic reaction before. The beer was so fantastic, however, that I finished the last pint before having my girl friend drive up to Walgreens to get me some benadryl. (243 characters)

The multiple taps of Golden Monkey Ive consumed over the past several weeks in an attempt to understand why so many people enjoy this beer were a complete waste of space in my belly where better beer could have been. Golden Monkey could be appropriately renamed Sugar Monkey. Its main aroma and flavor is sugar. The yeast works and so does the appearance but other wise I am done trying this beer. The syrupiness churns my stomach. Way, way too much sugar. Blech! (467 characters)

T-Follows the nose........good mix of the candied sugars and spices.......yeast is showing thru............sugary sweetness at first, followed by the spices then pepper and finishes with a slight alcohol burn

F-light to medium bodied, some warmth from the alcohol, typical tripel carbonation

Pours a nicy deep yellow color with a nice medium rocky head,the aroma was pretty tart and spicey.The taste was pretty cloveywith a malty sweet background,dangerously drinkable,wow.A very good beer from Victory,impressive maltiness in the ending on this one,pretty complex. (273 characters)

A: Light golden with a excellent clarity. The long lasting off-white head of compact bubbles leaves a some lacing on the glass.

S: Moderate lighter fruit notes of pears and peaches dominate the aroma with a moderately-light pepper and spicey phenols. The hops and alcohol add a light floral element. There is a faint malt softness in background.

T: A harsh bitterness dominates the flavor followed by moderate spice flavors for the first several sips. Without enough malt support for balance the moderately-high bitterness is sort of pithy like a bitter orange rind. There is a faint malt softness and a light floral hop flavor but not much of either. The bitterness lingers long past the dry finish

M: A moderately-light body beer with a moderately-high level of carbonation. There is a bit of warmth from the alcohol, a faint astringency and no creaminess

O: The high level of bitterness from the hops and spices make this tough on every sip and I'm a fan of highly hoped, very bitter IPA. Too bitter is phrase I haven't used until I met the Golden Monkey thought my palate adjusted half way through the bottle. (1,119 characters)

What to do with a gift certificate to a below-average beer distributer whose best-represented brewery is Victory? Buy Golden Monkey, of course! It's well-named, well, half well-named as it pours a gorgeous golden color. There's little to no head, which doesn't last long anyway and hardly any lace. You're just stuck with the bright gold color, not too shabby. The smell hinted to me of coriander, cloves and orange peel. It had a light, crisp taste but the alcohol soon swept in with a heaviness that weighed on the tounge. This beer cooked- if you're not prepared with water, just one will send you to Buzzville. Other 9+% beers I have had didn't hit me as hard. Usually I prefer beers room temperature, but this one I like cold; it preserves that crisp taste I mentioned earlier and I find that it's easier to distinguish the its earthy tones than when it's warmer. Warm, this beer is like watered-down scotch. The alcohol almost overpowers it.

P.S: I know a guy who can drink a case of this stuff in one sitting. During his lunch break. Proof that aliens do walk among us? (1,080 characters)

S- Straight up Belgian yeast are upfront with light farmhouse scent appearent. Scents of alcohol are dominate with mild nose of floral hops.

T-M- Taste is heavy alcohol esters and fresh tangy hops in the front. Second is a more pronounced yeasty sweetness that is followed by a thin carbonated yeast mouthfeel. Smooth but bold with heavy alcohol presence and bite from hops. I like this one... but for the style a little off.

D- I'd buy again but with a knowing of the fact i'm buying the alcohol not the style beer. (860 characters)

Being a fan of Belgian Abbey styles and Trappist Tripels, I was looking forward to trying this one. As I was pouring into a large goblet style glass, the floral aroma hit me quickly with a strong pungeant flare. The initial sip was interesting as it was a little more striking than I was expecting. I tasted the spicy warmth immediately with the hops coming through just afterward. The finish was somewhat dry with lingering hops and spices. The high alcohol level of this ale contributed to the lingering warmth as well.

I know this isn't a true trappist tripel but it seemed a little rough around the edges for me. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy this ale thoroughly but I think there are others in the style that I would pick up first. As for domestic Tripels - I like it. (783 characters)

This is the one that put us over the top and into the clouds. This fine American interpretation of the quintessential Belgian abbey style was one of the heaviest hitters in our tasting. Our fine local (Monty's Krown Lounge, Rochester, NY) served up a legendary assortment of Victory selections for us, and they were all wonderful.

The color was a spot on deep gold, little to no aroma, stiff malt backbone with delicately balanced hopping, a bit of cloviness, plus a significant (but not overbearing) alcohol contribution that just made you want to dance. Drink my monkey. (575 characters)